Verona ease relegation fears from Serie A with tight victory over Lecce
The visitors nearly got off to the perfect start, hitting the woodwork after less than two minutes as Milan Djuric rattled the post with a close range header.
The towering striker then saw another chance clawed away shortly afterwards as Marco Zaffaroni’s side desperately went in search of a vital three points in their quest for survival.
Generally, though, chances were few and far between in the first half, with the magnitude of the occasion getting to both sets of players in the final third.
Indeed, I Giallorossi barely mustered so much as a half-chance until after the 30-minute mark, when Antonino Gallo clattered harmlessly over the bar from distance, before Federico Di Francesco missed the target with an acrobatic effort.
Marco Baroni’s side were a little better after the break, although they still struggled to test Lorenzo Montipo, with Di Francesco missing the target after pivoting in the box and another shot being turned away by a defender.
At the other end, Verona offered nothing until, out of nowhere, they took the lead through Ngonge’s effort, which whistled into the bottom corner from 20 yards after clipping the outstretched leg of Federico Baschirotto.
Lecce made a raft of attacking substitutions as they desperately tried to get back into the game, but it wasn’t until the final 1- minutes when they finally found some attacking rhythm.
Substitute Lameck Banda had two opportunities to rescue a point, firstly bursting into the area and forcing Montipo to tip onto the post before having further a long-range effort palmed away, while Morten Hjulmand’s low drive in injury time was also saved as Verona clung on for a vital victory that moves them to within one point of today’s losers in 16th.
